Fifth writhed in agony on the examination table. She had lost all sense of time. Everything pulsed with pain from the roots of her hair to her toes. When she continued to fail to make her hand change, Doctor Shou switched tactics. She grabbed a syringe filled with a sickly yellow liquid.
After injecting it roughly into Fifth's arm, nothing but voiceless screams were pulled from Fifth's throat. She wanted it to end. She believed that Doctor Shou would kill her today. It made her sad and relieved. Sad that she would never see the outside world; relieved because her suffering would be over.
Now her skin itched horribly. She wanted to scratch violently at it to make it stop. Tears flowed from her eyes as Doctor Shou and the interns mocked her.
"She is useless. Are you getting rid of her today, Doctor Shou?" asked Bastard One.
Bastard Two nodded. "I agree. Trash should be thrown away. You already know the process to create another one of her. Why keep wasting resources on her?"
The female intern laughed harshly. "She's ugly, stupid, and untrainable. I agree with the guys. You should cut your losses, Boss Lady."
A chill stole over Fifth. These people talked of ending her life with no remorse whatsoever. Monsters. They were all monsters!
Doctor Shou hummed to herself, not responding to the interns. She stroked Fifth's cheek.
Fifth flinched and trembled at the inhuman gleam in Doctor Shou's eyes. Something bad was going to happen. She couldn't take much more of this.
"Does it hurt?" Doctor Shou asked, a kind smile on her face.
Fifth was not fooled by the doctor's expression. Her smile hid a knife of danger and terror. She didn't want to experience any of that. She didn't want her last moments to be filled with memories of her tormentors' satisfaction. She jerked at the stinging sensation of Doctor Shou viciously pinching her arm.
"Are you ignoring me, Fifth?"
Fifth hastily shook her head "no" while mouthing. "I'm sorry! Forgive me!" Tears rolled down her face.
Doctor Shou pinched her again and jabbed another dose of the yellow liquid into her. Her eyes watched Fifth's every move.
Fifth's body convulsed, straining against the restraints. She blacked out for a few seconds but was brought back to consciousness by a hard slap. She blinked, her vision blurry as she tried to focus on the doctor's face so close to hers.
"Did that hurt, Fifth?"
She nodded yes, praying that the doctor would stop harming her.
"Good! Use the pain and shift!" ordered Doctor Shou, her hot, fetid breath blowing in Fifth's face.
Fifth averted her face and tried to breathe in clean air. Doctor Shou wasn't having it. She grabbed Fifth's chin in a bruising grip.
"Shift, damn you!" snarled Doctor Shou.
"I'm trying!" Fifth mouthed, her frustration and fear tearing her up.
Doctor Shou stared into Fifth's eyes for a long moment. She released Fifth's face, walked to the tray, and grabbed her data pad. She tapped something on it and glared at Fifth.
"You are so disobedient." Doctor Shou shook a finger at her. "The energy is inside you. Stop being stubborn and release it."
Energy? What energy? Nothing the doctor said made any sense. All living things had energy and traces of magic. Some more than others. At least that's what all the books said. How that energy was something to make her change, Fifth couldn't comprehend it with the meager knowledge she possessed.
"I think we should punish her. Maybe no food for a week?" suggested the female intern.
Fifth groaned to herself in horror. They barely fed her as it was. To go a whole week would break her.
"You may be on to something, Betty," agreed Doctor Shou. "Let's…,"
Her words were cut off when an alarm loudly started blaring.
"What the hell?" cursed Doctor Shou as she ran to a console and jabbed some keys.
The screen changed, and her eyes widened. Who the hell were these men in her installation? They were not the mercs she'd hired. She turned to the male interns. "Go grab the weapons. We have intruders to kill. We can't have our work revealed." She glanced at Betty. "Betty, stay here with Fifth. If something happens to the three of us, kill her. We can't let news of our experiments fall into the wrong hands."
"Yes, Doctor Shou." Betty bowed.
Doctor Shou swept from the room with the male interns obediently following.
~Brayden, what do you sense?~
~Not a lot. Something is interfering with my magical senses.~
Alistair held up his fist to stop the group. On a wide mental broadcast, he said, ~Time to use some human tech.~
The closest knight reached into his subspace and pulled out a multi-use surveillance scanner. If Alistair remembered correctly, the knight's name was Orion. He was fascinated by human things and was the go-to knight if you had questions about their technology. The young knight was surprisingly good at using it.
~Your Highness, they are below us. Looks like three of them have split off from the other two and are heading to the floor directly below us.~
~Good. Can you show me the layout?~
~Yes. One moment.~ Orion pressed some keys, and the view on the screen changed. The image revealed a detailed sonar projection of the installation.
Alistair clapped the young knight on the back. This was why Orion was part of his elite brigade. He valued talented individuals, no matter their background or past.
~Your Highness. Here, here, and here are the best entry points. The rebels will assume we don't know anything about this place. They will try to come at us via these points and ambush us.~
~I agree. So this is what we will do. Orion and Brayden take five knights each with you.~ He looked over the group before pointing at a brawny, dark-haired knight. ~Taytim will take four knights and secure the third exit point. The remaining knights and I will go toward the basement floor, where the last two rebels are hiding. Remember, alive if possible. We need prisoners to interrogate. It's the only way to get rid of the vermin. Understood?~
~Yes, Your Highness!~
~Alright, move out!~
The knights split into their assigned groups and, like an incoming tidal wave, flowed outward, headed for their enemies.
Alistair grinned. He set off at a brisk walk, his group of knights on his heels, their bloodlust dancing in the air. Time to do some hunting.